- the house with the white porch

Hot summer nights, mid July
When you and I were forever wild

Joanna stood on the porch, a cool breeze blowing her lank brown hair into her eyes. She brushed the strands away, still getting used to how light her head felt now since she'd hacked her once waist long hair after a near death experience where a dead one had grabbed it and almost eaten her face off. The uneven strands now brushed just above her shoulders. Joanna used to be obsessed with how many likes her latest selfie had gained on her Instagram and refused to leave the house without a face of make up, now she was picking dried blood from under her nails on a daily basis and smelled of stale sweat. The white paint on the porch balcony was chipped and had seen better days as she ran her hand across the rough wood. We've all seen better days Joanna thought as she looked across the neighborhood. It should have been filled with the sounds of children playing and lawn sprinklers, instead the smell of decay hung in the air. Probably due to the rotting body lying on the front lawn across the street. Every garage door on the block had been left open where people had just packed up in their cars and left. Joanna had tried not to look at the photographs on the wall that belonged to the family that had lived in the house her group had broken into. They had found a dead cat in one of the upstairs bedrooms and the bones of two budgies still locked in their cage. The sight had upset Joanna, bringing back memories of what happened to her dog, Jedediah. When the petrol ran out and her family had been forced to travel by foot, Joanna's dad had made the decision to put Jed down. He said it was kinder this way, that Jed would've either slowly starved to death or been hunted by the other people for food. She'd wanted to bury the cat but Madison had told her to grow up and that if she wanted to do something useful, to help look for food, water and medication, all in that order. Joanna had stormed out, like a petulant child rather than a twenty two year old woman and instantly regretted it as it just gave Madison ammunition to use against her in future. You need to speak to people, you can't just shut the world out, we all care for you, I'm here for you, you are not alone. That last one was Madison's favourite phrase, she'd said it enough times to Nick and Alicia.

"Hey, it's just me - " Nick opened the screen door ajar and she chewed on the inside of her cheek as she met his wide eyed stare. " - I just wanted see if you were okay - "

"You mean your mom sent you to check up on me" Joanna said with an edge in her tone.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger" Nick raised his hands. "Okay, you're right, she did ask me to check what you were doin', should I jus' tell her you're hangin' out on this shitty porch enjoying the view?" he stifled a laugh as he nodded towards the corpse.

"You're unhinged you know that" Joanna shook her head as she turned fully to face him. "Twisted and unhinged."

"So you do find me sexy" Nick smirked at her just as Travis came out behind him.

"Nick, go inside" Travis said and Joanna saw Nick freeze as he mouthed the word 'shit' before slowly turning around.

"Whatever you just heard - "

"Nick, please, just go inside" the older man rubbed a hand over his face, tired and sore from constantly being on the move and barely sleeping. Nick looked back at Joanna and shrugged his shoulders before leaving her alone with Travis. "Joanna, you can't talk to Madison like that - "

"I wanted to bury the cat. I wasn't asking Madison to do it. I have my own reasons – "

"Like what?" he lost his cool and he saw Joanna's dark eyes grow wide. "Look kid, I didn't mean to snap at you, I get that it's tough, you were on your own when we found you and you probably feel like the odd man out half the time but we are all in this together. Just because we didn't know you before, doesn't make you the black sheep." Joanna didn't say a word as she stared down at the floorboards, feeling very vulnerable then and she knew Travis could see it. "If you don't want to talk to me, do me a favour and talk to Nick. Underneath all his bravado and bullshit, he's a good guy."